Bet my Life
by TheCrowMaiden
Summary: A Cavendish and Rebecca/Cavenbecca Little Mermaid!AU, with a twist. A mix of the Disney movie and the fairy tale and a lot longer than I had originally had intended when I started writing.


The sand he had scattered on top of the rock made it more comfortable to lie on, and Cavendish stretched as he admired the ocean blushing from the touch of the sun. Sunrise and sunset were his favourite times to be above the water; they were the times when the world seemed the most alive.

It was also the time that he felt that he looked the best above water, if he was being honest. The soft light and multitude of colours made his scaled tail sparkle like the jewels that the humans sometimes sang of when they sailed past, and that Cavendish had found in a rotted chest lodged under a rock near his home. He wore the blue stones in his hair to match his eyes and tail, as he had seen on a ship's figurehead once.

But no humans had sailed past his rock for years now though. There had been many the first year he had been permitted to go above the surface, but each year there were less and less until they were gone. He missed being able to lounge on his rock, and see the sailors drop what they were doing to try and get a better look at him. Some had even altered their course to come closer to see him bathing. Cavendish had been gratified by their attentions; he was the most beautiful merman in the sea, it was only right that the humans should think him beautiful too.

Stars began to appear as the sky grew dark, and he decided to stay out for a little longer to admire them. He was so busy looking for his favourite constellations, that he almost missed the telltale sound of wood straining against itself and ropes creaking with the wind.

A ship so small that it was almost a blot on the water was sailing past, the one faint light on the deck just another star in the sky. Curious and starved for the sight of humans after so many years, Cavendish slipped into the water and swam toward it. He stayed underwater so that he could come upon them unnoticed, using the shadow on the surface of ocean as a guide. A tarred rope was trailing in the water, and he used it to pull himself up the side until he could see the deck.

No one was on the ship. There were no sailors singing or drinking, no grizzled captains guiding their vessel by the light of the stars, no armed men standing watch. Cavendish wondered if something had happened to the ship's humans, and had just pulled himself up higher with the intent to investigate when a door creaked open and someone came to the rail. Cavendish dropped back down, and hid within the netting draped over the sides of the ship. The figure at the rail pulled down their cloak, and the single candle they held illuminated their face.

It was a girl. She had long hair, longer even than Cavendish's, which was bound in a braid and hung down her back. But it was the colour that caught his attention more than anything. Her hair was pink like sunsets on the water or rare little corals down in the ocean, and he was enamoured of it. She looked as delicate and yet strong as coral too, and he pulled himself up to be closer. A man's voice sounded quietly from nearby, and the girl snuffed out her candle and pulled her cloak back up. They didn't speak loud enough for Cavendish to hear what they were saying, and when he peeked over the railing they had gone.

He sighed, and the wind blew past his face as if in answer. But the breeze was stronger than it had been when the night started and when the merman looked up, the stars were gone from the sky. Cavendish could taste the storm in the air, and he shivered down to the tip of his tail.

Lightening flashed a moment later, and Cavendish leaped from the ship into the water. He surfaced, watching in horror as the ropes ripped and the wood splintered with each wave. The sounds of the ship's destruction blended with the thunder, and Cavendish saw rather than heard the sail rip free and disappear. He had seen human ships survive storms worse than this, but he knew all the same that this one would not. It was too small, and there were too few aboard to guide it for it to survive.

Right as Cavendish realized it, a wave broke over the ship and even the sound of the splitting wood was lost amid the sounds of the water. Pieces scattered to the winds, and the ship foundered for a minute as if it might right itself, before another wave pulled it under for good.

An even smaller boat tossed about in the place where the other had been, and Cavendish realized that it had to be a lifeboat of some sort. The boat was being pulled away by the currents, and he swam after it, thinking that he could perhaps tow them to the shore that he knew was nearby. There were two people on board, and one was most definitely a woman. Cavendish felt a surge of relief, until a flash of lightning illuminated the boat and the woman's jet black hair.

With a cry, Cavendish dove into the water. The debris from the ship kept getting in his way, until he finally spotted a crate on the surface and a body in the water. The girl was unconscious with her head just above the waves, and she fell from the box right as Cavendish reached her. She sank into the ocean, and he swam after her as quick as he could. He caught her around the waist, and pulled her back up into the air that the humans needed to live. The small boat was no longer in sight, and the blond merman began to swim toward the distant shore with the girl held tight to him.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Merman and girl made the beach just as the sun began to rise, and Cavendish gently placed her just above the tide line. Her hair had come loose from its braid and was spread out on the sand like jewel-toned seaweed, dark from the water and he marvelled at the colour it was in sunlight. But there was no such colour in her cheeks, and he began to wonder if he had been too late after all. He straightened her limbs out on the sand in desperation and she coughed and began to breathe noticeably, choking up the water she had inhaled.

Her fingers scraped at the rough sand as she choked, and Cavendish linked her fingers with his to stop her. She squeezed his hand, and he marvelled at her strength when she only half conscious.

Finally her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at him with a confused smile. Cavendish brushed her hair out of her face, and he was about to speak before a call from down the beach caused him to flee into the ocean. Hiding from behind a rock, he watched the girl sit up and hoarsely respond to the voices calling out. The man that he had seen on the little boat came running toward the girl as best he could, supported by the dark haired woman. They were both crying, and the man gathered the girl into a hug as the other woman helped her to stand. The two older humans took the girl inland, but not before Cavendish managed to hear her name.

 _Rebecca._ He thought to himself as he swam away. _What a lovely name._

.~.~.~.~.~.~

A week had passed since he had saved the girl from drowning, and all Cavendish had to show for it was a collection of human things that he had salvaged from around the ocean. None of it seemed to pertain to the three that had survived the wreck, but he continued swimming to the edges of the kingdom looking for sunken ships to raid. Cavendish had a little garden with red sea-flowers, and as he filled it with the stuff of shipwrecks the other merfolk began to notice his inattention to his usual pursuits.

He no longer attended the royal galas, and neither danced nor flirted with the mermaids in the palace. During the day his time was spent searching for new things to add to his collection; but at night, he would sneak away from the others and swim to the shore where he had last seen the humans.

There was a kingdom there, and in the dawn hours Cavendish would often see people collecting wood or seaweed. Sometimes they would stop and sit for a while, talking and blowing smoke from their mouths like the sailors used to do. There was a convenient ledge of rocks that jutted out into the water by a fair amount, and when the humans sat there Cavendish hid on the other side to eavesdrop.

Two men that the he had seen before were there that morning, and Cavendish rested against the rock to listen. They spoke of things that made no sense or were of no interest, and with a sigh the merman turned away. He knocked a rock loose though, and it clattered down into the water.

"You hear that?" One man said, taking the object he used to blow smoke out from between his teeth and looking down at the water while Cavendish hid against the rocks.

"Just a rock." The other replied without bothering to look around.

"Maybe…" The first man peered down the other side of the rocks, but was unable to make anything out in the dim dawn light. "Or maybe it was a mermaid!"

"Mermaid?" The man's friend laughed, and kicked a rock free so it fell noisily. "You're as bad as that princess that washed up here, claiming a beautiful sea-beastie saved her from the storm!"

"But you heard her describe it! Blond, beautiful, gems in its hair and big blue eyes? What else could it have been?"

"A hallucination, you idiot." The sceptical man climbed down and went to their cart that was piled with seaweed. "Stop being daft, or next thing you know you'll be sitting out here with her trying to get a glimpse. You know how sailors get if they swallow too much of the ocean. That's all that happened."

Still protesting, the other man followed his friend back inland, leaving Cavendish speechless behind the rocks. He eventually swam out to his usual place where he could see the whole beach without being noticed; regardless that it was long past the time he would have normally left. If the girl was looking for him, we wouldn't disappoint her.

So he stayed there, day and night, but she didn't come. Not the first day, nor the next, nor the one after. The two men came again, but the girl didn't. Cavendish hadn't left for more than a couple minutes each day, so he knew he hadn't missed her. Sometimes she would come up as a topic between the men, and Cavendish would listen eagerly for clues, but they mentioned nothing helpful. They talked about seeing her, and what the royal family might do with her, but nothing that meant anything to the merman.

On the eleventh day since he had abandoned his home to wait for the human girl on the beach, Cavendish gave up on waiting. He knew that she wasn't going to come to him, and so made up his mind that he was going to go to her.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The sea warlock lived on the edge of the area of ocean that Cavendish was familiar with, the house consisting of the skeleton of some ancient sea monster. Those who sought the warlock's help never returned, but Cavendish thought that in his case it would count as a success.

All the same, he paused outside the open jaws of the skull. There would be no turning back once he went in, and no returning to his life in the sea if the warlock could give him what he wanted. With a deep breath Cavendish unwound the jewels from his hair, and clenching them in his fist he swam into the warlock's house.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Diamante's tail was that of a giant squid, but at first glance he reminded Cavendish of a piece of sailcloth caught in the current. He was long and thin, probably near to twice the size of Cavendish with arms that were too long to be proportionate. Everything about the warlock was too long, even his tentacles that stretched out as if to grab the blond merman. Diamante's misshapen cape was covered in bits of flowers and debris around the neck like petals, and his movements were unnaturally fluid as he swam out from the back of his house flapping his cape and tail unnecessarily.

"Uhahaha, and to what do I owe the pleasure of having Cavendish in my house?" Diamante asked, the movement of the bright coloured stripes that ran down his face making it look even longer when he spoke.

"I require a spell." Cavendish said, circling to keep himself out of reach of the warlock. "One that will make me…human."

The warlock cackled, and Cavendish circled a little farther out of reach. Diamante wore more colours than could be found in a patch of anemones and his grin was too wide to be friendly. The blond thought that with as much magic as the warlock was supposed to have, he could at least make himself less unappealing.

"Can you help me or not?" Cavendish demanded, backhanding one of the warlock's tentacles that got to close to his face.

"Only if you pay." Diamante stopped in front of a crater in the floor and stirred it with one finger, causing smoke to rise. "And not with those useless trinkets you brought, either uhahaha!"

"Then what?" Cavendish cautiously came closer to the warlock, looking into the crater that appeared to be filling with coloured smokes and liquid.

"Your beauty."

"What?!"

"I'm not asking for much." Diamante said, and when he stirred the contents of the crater again, Rebecca's face appeared on the surface. "Not compared to what you gain from the arrangement."

"But…"

"It's your choice, of course." The warlock dropped a pebble into the crater, and the girl's face vanished in the ripples.

"How would the spell work?" Cavendish asked, feeling a pang or sadness when Rebecca's image faded. "If I agreed to your terms of payment?"

"You would give me your beauty in exchange for becoming a human. And if you can get the princess to fall in love with you, than true love's kiss will return you to normal. Except," Diamante grinned and conjured an image of Cavendish and Rebecca standing together holding hands, "You would remain a human forever."

"It's that simple?"

"Uhahaha, yes! But if she marries someone else, you will return to being a merman, and you will belong to me."

Cavendish stared at the image of himself with Rebecca, remembered the feel of her hand in his, and turned to the warlock.

"You have a deal."

With one hand Diamante took one of the red sea anemones from his cape, and with the other he shook Cavendish' hand. As soon as their hands touched the blond felt something pulling at him, and to his horror he watched the colour run from his hair and sink into the anemone the warlock held. The colour in his tail likewise faded, and began to split apart.

The warlock was cackling again, and Cavendish watched the blue from his eyes flow away before he suddenly couldn't breathe. Water flowed down his throat, and his vision went black even as Diamante's laugh continued to echo through his head.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Cavendish couldn't remember the sun ever being so hot, and he shielded his eyes from the glare. He felt heavy and he pushed himself up as best he could, but his toes couldn't grip the sand very well and he almost slid back down.

Wait, toes?

He sat bolt upright, and stared down at his legs in delight. His happiness was dulled when he remembered what he had traded for them though, and he crawled toward the water to see his reflection.

Rather than being ugly as he had feared, Cavendish found that he was merely unremarkable. He couldn't put a name to his hair or eye colour, and the details of his face almost seemed to shift under his own gaze. His body seemed to be the same in build and strength, and when he uncurled his hands he was surprised to find that he was still holding the string of jewels he had used to wear in his hair.

What he didn't have was clothing though, and Cavendish looked around the beach desperately for something he could use. The humans were never without something on when they were on land, and luckily he found what appeared to be a discarded sack of some sort that he managed to cover himself up with. He hid the jewels in an extra scrap of the cloth, not wanting to lose them. It was maybe mid-morning, and there weren't any humans about yet, so Cavendish began to hobble up the path that led inland.

He had barely gone for ten minutes when his legs and feet began to ache, the fresh new skin of the soles breaking from the rough road. He kept on for a while longer but he stumbled over a particularly sharp stone and it sliced his heel open, causing him to fall hard.

"Oh! Are you okay?"

Cavendish looked up, and couldn't believe his eyes. Rebecca and the other woman who had been on the boat with her had stopped next to him, riding in one of the humans wheeled carts that was pulled by horses. The girl climbed down from the cart and came over to him with a concerned look, and asked him again if he was alright.

 _Rebecca!_ He cried out, and froze when it made no sound. _Rebecca, I'm alright._ He tried again, and when she continued to look puzzled his heart dropped into his newly acquired toes.

Diamante had taken his voice as part of his beauty.

Cavendish swore, and pulled at his still wet hair frantically. He was mute, wet, dirty, bleeding, and had no way to let her know who he was. He had thought that he could explain it to her, explain his change in appearance, but now there wasn't a single redeeming quality about his human body that he could offer.

"Whoa, calm down." Rebecca caught his hands, and soothed him. "You're in bad shape, what happened? Were you shipwrecked?"

It was close to the truth, and Cavendish nodded. He stood with Rebecca's help, leaning on her to keep the weight off of his wounded foot.

"We'll take care of you. Won't we, Aunt Viola?" Rebecca looked to the dark haired woman who had joined her, and the woman nodded kindly.

Rebecca put Cavendish's arm over her shoulder to help him limp to the cart, and with the help of her aunt she got him into it. The older woman took up the reigns once everyone was settled, and guided the horses around to go back the way they had come from. It was a rough road even in the cart, and Cavendish winced when he bumped his new and damaged foot. Rebecca noticed his pain and shifted so that she could cradle his feet, and covered Cavendish with her cloak. She used a square of white cloth she pulled from her sleeve to wipe the dirt from his feet, and then wadded it up to stem the blood flow from the deepest cut as she supported his heel on her lap.

Rather than passing Cavendish off to a servant when they arrived at the palace, the two women took him to a courtyard and set him down next to a fountain. Viola left, and returned in a moment with a bucket of water and a large bundle under her arm. Part of the bundle contained bandages, and Rebecca used the water to properly clean Cavendish's wounds before she wrapped his feet completely with the long strips of cloth.

Viola took a lump of something from the bundle, and used it to make bubbles in the bucket of water. The older woman dipped a cloth into the bubbly water, and then rubbed it over Cavendish's back. The bubbles smelled pleasant and they made the sand and dirt come off his skin, and the former merman swished his hand in the bucket of bubbles curiously while Viola continued to wash his back. Rebecca was using another cloth to spot wash the grit from his hair, and when she finished her aunt whispered something to her that made the younger girl blush slightly.

Rebecca left right after her aunt spoke to her and Cavendish would have gone after her if Viola had not pressed down on his shoulder, keeping him in place.

"She's gone to get you some clothes. In the meantime," Viola handed him the cloth and bucket, "you need to finish washing yourself."

The older woman turned her back to Cavendish, and he shed his rough clothing to finish using the bubbly water on himself. He stood awkwardly next to the bucket when he finished, wondering if he was supposed to put the dirty clothing back on afterward to keep himself decent by the humans standards. Viola held out her cloak to him without turning, and Cavendish took it and wrapped it around his waist just as Rebecca came back around the corner.

"I had to ask the servants for some of their livery. Father's clothes would have been too big." She said, putting down a stack of clothing with a pair of sturdy boots balancing on top.

"That was an excellent idea, Rebecca." Viola said, and pulled out a shirt with no sleeves and trousers with short legs from the pile of clothing.

She handed them to Cavendish, and then turned Rebecca around so that both the women had their backs to the man. Cavendish got the point and dressed in the clothing that Rebecca had brought. He managed the undergarments and the trousers without help, but the shirt with the little strings and knobs was beyond his abilities. He tapped Viola on the shoulder, and held the shirt out with what he hoped was a pleading expression when she turned.

Both the women laughed, and Rebecca helped him with the shirt while Viola urged him to sit so she could help him with the boots. Between the three of them they got him dressed appropriately in the clean clothing, and Cavendish even managed to rescue his jewels from the rags before Viola took them to be disposed of.

The boots were stiff and Cavendish had to sit back down after a moment, finding that they pressed against the cuts even through the bandages. Rebecca sat next to him and used a ribbon to pull back his hair, smiling at him.

"Can you write?" She asked, dipping her finger into the fountain and spelling her name out with the water on the dry stone. "It would be nice to know your name."

Cavendish hadn't had much practice writing, but he could spell his name. He wet the tip of his finger in the fountain and carefully formed a large 'C' on the brick under where her name was drying. It was neither neat nor even, but he managed to spell out his entire name with the fountain water before the first letter faded completely.

"Cah-ven-dish?" Rebecca said when he finished. "Is that how you say it?"

He nodded, and Rebecca wrote it out herself on the stone.

"It's a very pretty name."

 _At least something about me still is._ Cavendish thought sourly, looking at his nondescript reflection in the fountain.

"It would probably be too complicated to write out what happened to you though, wouldn't it?" She asked, and sighed when he nodded. "I thought so. But don't worry; you'll be safe here until we can think of some way to help you."

She got up, dusting off her skirt, and held her hand out to him. He took it, and smiled at how the contrast of their skin was the same as the day he had saved her from drowning. She continued to hold his hand once he was upright, and she led him through the halls of the palace by it until they came to a large room that was sparsely furnished.

"This is my father's room. You'll be staying with him," she whispered, "he seems rather gruff but he's really quite kind, so don't be intimidated."

And she pulled Cavendish inside to where the man who had been on the boat was standing by the window, with one hand resting on the hilt of a sword. With a grin, Rebecca turned to her father and nudged the former merman forward.

"Father, this is Cavendish. He'll be staying with us."

.~.~.~.~.~.~

As it turned out, Rebecca and her family were not the resident royalty. They had been fleeing their own kingdom when they had been caught in the storm, and the rulers of the coastal kingdom had taken them in.

"We didn't really want them to." Rebecca told Cavendish, offering him a piece of fresh bread. "We just wanted to live quietly somewhere, but they want us to go back."

They were sitting on a cliff waiting for the sun to rise, sharing the loaf of bread and smoked meat that Rebecca had wheedled from the head cook. She had woken Cavendish a couple hours before dawn, and invited him to come with her for a short hike and breakfast on the go. He had accepted of course, and he was rather enjoying sitting with her on the cliff overlooking the water and sharing the meal.

Colours were starting to spread from the horizon, including Cavendish's favourite pink, and he held a piece of bread to Rebecca's lips with a smile. She blinked at him, bemused, but let him feed it to her and offered him a piece of the smoked meat in the same fashion. The two of them laughed, Cavendish silently, and fed each other the remains of breakfast as the sun rose and illuminated the kingdom.

The market was busy when they returned from watching the sunrise, and Rebecca pulled Cavendish along by the hand to steer him through the crowds. A few carts were heading down to the beach, and Rebecca asked one man if she and Cavendish could get a ride.

"My friend has a bad foot." She said, and the good-natured man let them sit on top of the sacks he was taking to fill with sand.

Cavendish was pleased both to be called her friend and for the ride; his foot was still sore, and the boots didn't help. Rebecca pointed out where the different paths would lead to as they bumped along in the cart, the man adding in what she may have missed as he kept the donkey going steady.

No one was there when they arrived, most having already come and gone. Rebecca thanked the man for the ride and helped him fill a few bags, before she took Cavendish out to the rocks that he had once eavesdropped behind. There was no evidence that he had ever been there, and for the first time Cavendish wondered if the other merfolk even knew what had become of him.

"This beach is where I washed up too." Rebeeca said, dropping small rocks into water. "Well, I was saved, actually."

Fiddling with a flat stone, Cavendish made a questioning gesture and smiled when she patted his hand.

"No one believes me, but I _was_ saved. A man, with blond hair and the sweetest eyes pulled me out of the water. He looked so concerned, I wish I could let whoever he was know I'm alright."

 _He knows._ Cavendish thought, and threw his stone into the water. It skipped a few times before sinking, and he watched as the last of the dawn colours faded from the sky with a sigh.

They had to walk back to the palace, and Rebecca stopped often to make it easier on Cavendish as well as offering him her arm for support. She continued to talk as they made their way along the road, sharing stories of her childhood and her family's current desire to fade into the background and be left to live in peace. Her phrasing made it sound as if it was a given that Cavendish would be staying with her family regardless of what happened, and the former merman felt confident that he would have the ability to add to their conversations in no time.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Cavendish's foot healed fully, and he became used enough to being human that he could run and walk with ease. He and Rebecca spent their days exploring the kingdom on foot or by carriage, while her aunt and father tried to convince their hosts to let them go into the country.

It had been so long since the change that Cavendish had started to forget what it was like to be a merman. The moon had waxed and waned twice since he had sold his beauty, and though he didn't regret it for a moment he wished that he could respond to Rebecca or ask her what he meant to her. They were near inseparable and the she talked to him about everything that was on her mind, but she never seemed to be inclined to kiss him. Time had only made him love her more, but at the back of his mind he began to wonder if she would ever feel the same.

He also worried that they may be separated after all, if the ruling family had their way and sent Rebecca back to the kingdom of her grandfathers. The King and Queen had started sending for Rebecca and her relatives in the evening for meetings that Cavendish could not attend and that no one would talk to him about. Kyros and Viola looked increasingly on edge as the meetings went on, and though Rebecca tried to comfort them, whatever she said always seemed to make her aunt and father look worse.

All four of them were in one of the sitting rooms one evening when a servant called for them to attend the King and Queen, and for once Cavendish was not told to stay behind. Curious, he didn't notice that his companions' moods were rather subdued as they approached the private quarters of the monarchs.

The servants opened the doors, and everyone entered and bowed to the seated King and Queen. Cavendish didn't spare them much attention; he didn't care for their preventing Rebecca and her family from leaving to start a new life. The two sets of royalty traded courtesies and began a lengthy conversation that made no sense to Cavendish, and eventually he tuned it out. Rebecca spoke very little, and she was his only concern.

His attention was caught though when Kyros put his hand to the hilt of his sword, and Cavendish moved closer to Rebecca's side looking for danger.

"You need not be so adverse to our proposal of the princess marrying." The King said, his voice both soothing and bored. "We have it on good authority that she will approve of the match."

And before Cavendish could process what exactly the King meant, the man turned to a servant.

"Summon his Highness."

A man walked in through an accompanying door, cloaked and wearing a feathered hat tipped low to cover his face. He was tall and well built, dressed in mostly white with long blond hair and covered in jewels. Cavendish was already predisposed to dislike him, when the man swept off his hat and both Rebecca and Cavendish gasped.

The former merman's own face smiled at him from beneath the man's hat, and a red sea anemone was pinned to the brim. The man walked forward, took Rebecca's hand, and kissed it with an obsequious smile.

"We meet again, Princess."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Visiting dignitaries were arriving every day, and they wandered the halls in stately groups whispering about each other while servants ran around trying to appear unhurried with their armfuls of tablecloths and bundles of food. Poets and singers had been commissioned by the King and Queen to immortalize the love story that would 'reconcile kingdoms'.

Cavendish didn't think much of a love story that had an imposter in it.

The king that had started whatever mess had caused Rebecca's family to go into exile in the first place, was apparently also the father of the prince who claimed to be the one who rescued the young woman. Her marrying the prince would apparently remove their outcast status and allow them to return to their home. But nothing quite added up, and all of the exiled royals were sceptical of the deal.

He and Rebecca were sitting together on her father's balcony while Kyros and Viola attempted to talk with their host royal family again. Neither Rebecca's father nor aunt approved of the idea of marrying the young woman off to the Prince Diam.

"I don't approve of it either." Rebecca said, leaning against the carved stone railing. "I wanted to meet him, not necessarily spend the rest of my life with him."

Cavendish tucked his cloak around her shoulders, to protect her from the late night chill. He was beyond glad that she and her family were trying to stall the wedding that they were being forced into.

"Thank you." she said, wrapping his cloak tightly around her. "Besides, there's something off about that Prince."

 _That would be because he's a slimy squid using my good looks._ Cavendish thought, but he smiled when Rebecca leaned against him, yawning.

"I wish it was you instead." she whispered, and Cavendish sadly kissed the top of her head.

 _I wish it was me, too._

.~.~.~.~.~.~

Kyros and Viola's attempts to stall or prevent the wedding were in vain, as were their attempts to escape the kingdom along with Rebecca. The King and Queen were insistent that it was a perfect solution, and were prepared to enforce their decision. Rebecca took it the best, as her fiancé had saved her life once she thought that he had to care about her at least a little. Kyros and Viola on the other hand, and Cavendish was reasonably sure of it, were planning to do away with the prince the first chance they had.

For his own part, Cavendish was trying to get a moment alone with the false prince. Rebecca marrying and condemning Cavendish to becoming property of Diamante's he could handle if her partner was worthy; Diamante was the farthest thing from worthy, in- and outside the ocean.

But the slippery sea warlock was never around, and the former merman spent entire days searching without even finding where his room was. The servants were less lenient with Cavendish with so many important people in the palace, and he was reminded that he was no more than a washed up mute to them. Rebecca insisted that he was to attend the wedding with her family though, and Cavendish knew it would be his only chance to settle things with Diamante.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Three boats left the kingdom in the evening, the biggest one holding the wedding party and the other two providing armed escort. The guests were all below in their quarters as servants prepared the deck for the ceremony. Cavendish was stuck in a cramped room with Kyros, as the men waited for Viola to finish helping Rebecca dress.

Kyros was going back and forth between murderous and miserable, and the former merman found himself in agreement with whichever of the moods Rebecca's father was currently feeling. It was a subdued atmosphere amongst the bride's party, even after she returned with Viola. The white and overly-complicated dress gave their predicament finality, and all four brooded on their own particular thoughts.

"Princess?" A knock at the door startled them all to their feet, and a servant opened the door a moment later. "It's time for the ceremony."

Rebecca looked to her aunt and father, and they each took one of her hands. They stood up together, and walked out the door to the stairway that would bring them topside so that Kyros could take his daughter down the makeshift aisle. Cavendish kept close behind the three, and Rebecca smiled at him when she caught sight of him.

Musicians began playing when they arrived on the deck, and Viola dropped back to walk with Cavendish. She carried her niece's long train with one arm, and looped her other through his as he acted as her escort. The King and Queen had disliked the decision to have Rebecca's family be so involved rather than sitting off to the side, but they hadn't been able to make them participate otherwise.

Diamante was waiting at the end of the carpet with the priest, and Cavendish had to bite down on his useless tongue to prevent himself from glaring outright at the imposter. Kyros gave Rebecca's hand over to the prince to hold, and then he and Viola moved to step back into the crowds.

But Cavendish couldn't do it. Even as Viola tugged sharply on his sleeve, the former merman turned and found himself running forward toward the couple at the temporary alter. Diamante noticed too late, and Cavendish tackled him to the ground.

The guests erupted into a panicked mass, and the two men grappled on the ground. Rebecca's lifestyle was an active one, and Cavendish's natural strength had been honed by running around over every cliff and trail the kingdom had to offer. Diamante was caught off guard and was dressed in more constraining clothing as well, giving the former merman just enough of an advantage to be able to rip the sea anemone from the other man's coat where it had been pinned.

It crushed easily in Cavendish's fist, and in an instant the handsome Prince Diam returned to being an old squid-tailed man. The guests' screaming increased to a fervour pitch, and even Rebecca screamed.

Kyros and Viola took one look at the man who appeared to be in his forties who had been trying to marry Rebecca, and simultaneously drew steel. Kyros' sword and Viola's dagger made short work of the warlock, and a few of the guests fainted dead away at the gruesome sight.

Cavendish thought quite highly of Rebecca's family in that moment, until he felt his legs fold and fuse beneath him and he hit the deck hard.

"Cavendish!" Rebecca cried as the remaining guests fainted, including the King and Queen. "It _was_ you! You were the one who saved me!"

"Indeed I was." Cavendish was surprised to hear his own voice coming from his mouth again, and he ran his fingers through his long blond hair in a moment of delight. But he remembered the cost of the return of his beauty in such a way, and flipped his tail morosely while he peeled off what was left of his human clothing.

"What happened?" Rebecca asked, sitting next to him and tossing her bouquet aside. "Why did he look like you?"

In a pocket of his discarded jacket Cavendish found the jewels he had carried on his person since the day he became human, and offered them to Rebecca.

"That bastard was the sea warlock. I traded my beauty to become human, and he took my voice as part of the deal."

Rebecca unclasped the necklace that the Queen had given her as a wedding present, and put Cavendish's jewels on in its place.

"…Why?"

"To be with you, of course." He sighed, but smiled and rearranged the jewels around her neck so they lay against her skin better. "A kiss of true love would have let me have everything back, and remain a human."

The boat listed to the side, and Rebecca and Cavendish had to hold onto each other to avoid sliding across the deck. Cavendish heard the sounds of people yelling, and Viola pulled herself up over the railing a moment later. She ran down the stairs below deck, and reappeared in mere minutes with a couple bags slung over her arm, and Rebecca's cloak in her hand.

"Your father has taken one of the escort ships, Rebecca." Viola said, putting the cloak on her niece. "We need to hurry."

"I'll be there in just a minute." The older woman nodded and went to the rail, and Rebecca turned to Cavendish. "How long can you stay out of water, anyway?"

"A while." He replied, puzzled. "Why?"

"Well, my father and aunt did just commit regicide, technically." Rebecca eyed the bloody velvet that had been hurriedly thrown over Diamante's corpse with a wince. "He was a creep, but my family will need to be on the run more than ever now."

She paused, and began to play with a piece of her hair. "I thought you could come with us. We could bring you onboard during storms so we don't get separated, or if you couldn't keep up."

Cavendish blinked, and looked down at his blue-scaled tail.

"But, I'm not a human anymore."

"Well," Rebecca began blushing distinctly as she twirled her hair around her finger, "the ocean is pretty large. Maybe there's another sea warlock, or even a witch who could give you legs again."

She stood, dusted the dirt from her white dress, and looked at the sunset.

"And if they offer the same terms, well…Maybe by the time it happens again, true love's kiss will be as close as the surface."


End file.
